


Ghost Whisperer

by StephanieStephanie



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends: Jedi Apprentice Series - Jude Watson & Dave Wolverton
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Ghosts, Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Force Ghost(s), Ghosts, Mandalorian Obi-Wan Kenobi, References to the Jedi Council (Star Wars), Reincarnation, Worldbuilding, Young Obi-Wan Kenobi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-20
Updated: 2021-03-17
Packaged: 2021-03-17 12:43:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 24
Words: 13,965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29593002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StephanieStephanie/pseuds/StephanieStephanie
Summary: The debates about Dark and Light aside, the Jedi widely accepted three ways of viewing the Force, which were the Unifying Force, the Living Force and the Cosmic Force.A few cultures were quite happy to let them keep their delusions on the matters of Wild Force and Undying Force.
Comments: 271
Kudos: 357
Collections: Favorite Rereads





	1. Introduction

**Author's Note:**

> My thanks to [reed acted], geeketer, Dema, Fai_Gensou, Astyan, Trickster Twins, mneiai, palpatine vaping for no reason & Lithvirax on the Cursed Content Discord server for their help brainstorming the many ideas that led to this fic!
> 
> Tell me if I should add more tags!

Force Sensitives who passed a lot of lives having to use their abilities through or despite particular materials like beskar became stronger Senders at each new reincarnation. In fact, any skill mastered once tended to end up as an ever growing natural talent if pursued often and long enough. It couldn't replace good old hard work, but it did make it pay up faster when it came to learning.

While coming back to a body of the same species as your original one wasn't always a given, thanks to multiple genocides, mass extinctions and humanity thirsting after everyone and everything, people did generally look like themselves once reborn.

In cultures where rituals to bring back memories of past lives were common, though always hidden from outsiders to protect loved ones from being hurt for things they didn't even remember yet, this could lead to particular behaviors and sayings that might be misunderstood by the galaxy at large. 

This was the case for the Mandalorians. "I remember you, so you are eternal." "Not gone, merely marching far away." Quite a few of their common sayings were way more literal that most people gave them credit for. Remembrances weren't just about grief, but having a very short list of friends and family members in them was considered good luck either way.

Many of the more nomadic groups also inadvertently gave birth to well known stereotypes when searching for a specific someone through the ages. Up to and including a great fondness for redheads thanks to the concerted efforts of a certain Mand'alor, his son, their friends, their allies and a few other interested parties. 

Past lives weren't the only sources of old first hand accounts.

Another common yet false fact, this time about the Mandalore system, was that it was the only place where one could find beskar in its raw form, what with being the only known location where there was enough of it to open mines. The truth was both grimmer and sadder. Beskar formed from the bones of dead mando'ade. All the mines and deposits used to be places where a lot of people were reunited at once during the Dral'Han. 

Mandalorian folklore said that beskar was the gift of the dead through the ka'ra to help protect future generations. Beside a few species that lose their teeth regularly, the only living exceptions were children, in which cases their buir'e would go and brag to their whole aliit about how mandokarla their kids were. The baby teeth were saved to become the center kar'ta on the cuirass of their eventual Beskar'gam when they finished growing up.

Beskar Ghosts were clan members who chose to linger on through their forged bones to protect and avenge their own. They preferred following their armor around to risking being born away from their people, unable to remember them, unable to help them. All mined beskar was rightfully considered haunted and its tagalongs took great delight in causing as many dreadful deadly accidents as possible to get back at the aruetti and dar'manda who dared to steal their sacred metal. 

Mandalorian Force Sensitives learned to reach out to spirits, whether they were awake or not, to establish lists of people they didn't need to search for, learn of the cause of their death and get back lost information. The best at it developed the habit of creating and hunting down such lists to help find specific pieces of beskar and their corresponding loved ones. 

Tarre Viszla used his baby teeth to make his lightsaber. He left it to the Jedi after his death to be able to help and guide any reincarnation of his birth people that ended up in the Order. Fast forward a few hundred years and a redheaded little one with a really familiar Force Signature ended up in the crèche. He started to laugh, hard. All these centuries of active searching from the Reformer's group and yet it is the Mand'alor who chose to not reincarnate and always stay in the same spot that first found the charming little menace again. 


	2. Charming little menace

Little Obi-Wan Kenobi didn't remember a time when he couldn't talk to Tarre with his mind. 

Apparently, he was such a great Sender as a baby that the ghost had managed to divert some of his reach towards the darksaber after only a few months. Had he been as purely aligned to the Living Force as most usually were at that age it wouldn't have worked. Happily, the Unifying Force was quite strong within him even back then and it worked well enough to help develop an affinity for the Undying when it came to haunted beskar.

The link had only thickened with each interaction, and having a designated conversation partner to direct his attention to day and night, no matter how much more effort it took, had limited the amount of broadcasting he tended to do. He still reached out often to the living of course, but Tarre always, always answered back when he spoke to him, and none of his teachers ever reprimanded him for being too loud when he did, which was the best thing ever as far as he was concerned.

His first words were actually in mando'a, but it wasn't noticed because none of the crèchemasters knew the language. He rapidly realised that if he wanted to be understood by his flesh and blood caregivers, he had to use galactic basic when speaking aloud. 

But galactic basic was just that, basic, and Obi-Wan preferred learning others, more precise words from his classmates' birth worlds. They were so much more interesting! Bant alone had so many different ways to describe water! She agreed to teach them to him in exchange of his help spreading her special hydrating cream for aquatic species over her skin! And really, what was not to love in any language that could say in one word what took a full sentence to explain in basic?

When he grew older, he hoped he would be able to get his hands on an ancient holocron of someone whose mother tongue was Dai Bendu! Certainly the Force must have been easier to understand back when the Jedi regularly spoke a language that centered around it! Who knew how many proverbs might have been twisted through translation!

Maybe he should ask Master Yoda about it? Some of the pre Ruusan Reformation Knights must have still been alive back when he was a youngling! Come to think of it, what was Master Yoda's first language? Was it the reason for his well known speech pattern? Did basic change that much through the centuries? Was it a long standing prank on everyone? Was Master Yaddle on it too? 

"Master Yoda! Master Yoda! Can I walk with you? I have a few questions!"

(This would be the point where the Grandmaster of the Jedi Order decided to poach young Obi-Wan Kenobi for his own Lineage. Anyone who could sound so delighted at the mere idea of such a long standing con was definitely someone worth watching.)


	3. The darksaber

The Temple Museum housed many historical artifacts of great importance to the galaxy at large, though most were from the Order's own past. One of them was the darksaber. Today, multiple groups of Initiates would visit the section it resided in for the first time. Among them was the Tooka Clan, which currently housed Obi-Wan Kenobi.

While their mind link worked quite well considering their circumstances, it wasn't a proper Undying Bond yet. It couldn't be since his young reincarnated friend had never set sight on the beskar casing that now housed Tarre's soul. 

He might not have chosen to haunt his kyber crystal like so many Force Sensitive ghosts did, but the Jedi could still tell that his lightsaber was somehow more sentient than most and put up a slight warding around it as a precaution to prevent interactions with the other artifacts close by. They had to preserve them as close to their original state as possible for posterity after all.

Staying in the display case was so boring! All the dead spirits nearby were either in the Vault or outside of the Temple! He 'slept' and meditated most of his time away in between visits and conversations! 

He really hoped the tour guide would linger long enough to finally establish a true Ghost-Listener connection with his student. Spoken languages, philosophies, history and debates were all well and good, but to the Mandalorian Jedi, no mental communication could beat face to face instructions in a shared mindscape. 

How else would he be able to give pointers in fighting techniques, body language and written mando'a? It wasn't like he could teach lessons inside the museum! Even if the Jedi tolerated revenants inside their walls, which wasn't the case, one had to learn to let go after all, Tarre certainly didn't abide by the Order current doctrines! He was hardly going to teach them! Especially when Obi-Wan had just reached eight years old! He should have already started to train the kid for his verd'goten at thirteen! 

He remembered the tales of the Red Haired Lore Keeper! As soon as the charming little menace left the Temple protection for his first Padawan mission, it would rain trouble! The man used to find beings in need of help like they were sidequests in an open world video game!


	4. Mindscape

The Order would probably kick him out if they ever learned of it, but honestly, the closer he got to his thirteen birthday the less he cared about that fact. As things stood, he would soon end up leaving the Temple anyway. Probably for the ExploraCorps considering both his known interests and his best grades.

Obi-Wan now passed, as far as he could tell in such a setting, a great deal of his sleeping nights training with Tarre Vizsla in his dreams. Speaking mentally to someone else during the day was all well and good, but it didn’t, couldn’t replace the physical contact and emotional support that he could get in his mindscape. 

Having such an experienced instructor all for himself to learn everything the Mandalorian Jedi felt necessary and then some, having a mentor fully invested in his success and growth was something Obi-Wan appreciated immensely and would never take for granted. Not after so many living Masters and Knights had rejected him as a potential Padawan.

Which was why he was currently expending so much energy into strengthening his Bond with his Ghost Master enough to be able to lengthen its reach. He didn't yet know how far being a loud Speaker would serve him away from Coruscant. The excitement of Illum and its multitude of kyber crystals had been too disorienting to concentrate properly the one time he had been away from the Temple home planet.

If he wasn't chosen to become a Padawan by a Living Master before his cut off date, he would ask for the ExplorCorps. The Council of Reassignment wouldn't have to choose for him. He could learn and finish growing up in a spaceship, away from the more hierarchical structure so common in planet bound Temples, become a Jedi Seeker, help uncover ancient civilisations or find new ones, hone his skills in combat and survival. 

He would dearly miss Tarre, Bant, Quinlan and most of his crèchemates, but he just couldn't see himself being fully happy in any of the Jedi Corps that would let him stay near them on a permanent basis. The AgriCorps and MediCorps both needed the Living Force. EduCorps wouldn't be too bad he guessed, he did love knowledge after all, but he preferred to learn new things directly from the source and his favorite sources were people and the places they inhabited. 

He...He wanted to see the universe, not, not just a representation of it on a datapad or a holoprojector. He wanted to see it as it truly was, the good, the bad and the ugly. He wanted to see it and help it as it changed, not just in the aftermath. He wanted to be able to look at a being's future and know that he was one of the reasons it was just a bit brighter than their past.


	5. Outrage

They… They sent him off early! He had a few weeks left before his birthday and they still sent him off early with barely any warning whatsoever! They didn't even take his scores and preferences into account! He knew they had them since he had already spoken to Jocasta Nu on the matter while looking for quizzes and placement tests to further determine which path of the Service Corps would suit him best! They certainly didn't bother to factor in his strengths either! 

They karking sent him to the AgriCorps! If he had been like most Sensitives, who had no particular Force leaning, he might have understood better after a while learning among its members, but everyone and their grandmaster knew how much he favored the Unifying from a young age! Before the creation of the shared mindscape with Tarre when he was eight limited them, he used to have nightly Visions on a regular basis! He had a note in his file from his crèchemaster saying so! 

Worse! They had Master Qui-Gon Jinn chaperone him on the way there! How the hell was he supposed to discreetly sneak out without being caught with that damn meddler on board? 

He had made a whole plan before leaving the Temple! Pack as many useful supplies as possible in his travel bag. Hide his beskar teeth in his boots just in case. Go to the spaceport a little bit in advance as ordered. Use the Undying to find the nearest Beskar Ghost. Present himself and his situation in mando'a to the accompanying Mandalorian and, if he didn't get adopted right there, at least get indications on what to do to get in contact with that Reformer's group his Ghost Master insisted should both still be around and interested in welcoming him.

That damn Maverick wasn't even good company to be around! Since the exhibition match Master Yoda recently insisted on had probably been organized for the sole purpose of tempting that man into taking another Padawan, any attempt at conversation beyond the strict minimum necessary was interpreted as another attempt in the same vein! 

Ohhhh! Pirates! Was that why he was sent with Master Jinn? 

Xanatos Du Crion? Wasn't he supposed to be dead? Oh, come on, seriously? 

"No! I am not Qui-Gon Jinn's Padawan! I was actually working toward going to the ExplorCorps before they decided to send me to the AgriCorps weeks before I was due to leave! Who would want to become Padawan to a Master that not only vowed to never take one ever again, but also repudiated the one that achieved the rank of Knight!?"


	6. Bandomeer

Obi-Wan distractingly scratched at the raw mark his bomb collar had left on his throat's skin. He was currently waiting in front of the High Council's doors, still in the clothes he wore as a slave of Offworld Mining Corporation since he had no intentions whatsoever to hide the effects of what he had been through. 

Once he had finished hugging him in their shared mindscape, their Bond stretching far enough to permit it before even reaching Coruscant atmosphere, Tarre had been apoplectic with rage on his behalf when learning of what happened to him on Bandomeer. Being told after another hug about how much his Ghost Master was proud of him, that of course such a trial counted as his verd'goten and that he certainly passed it with flying colors was wonderful.

The doors opened and Obi-Wan made his way in without care for Master Qui-Gon Jinn's surprise that he didn't do so a few steps behind his elder. He wasn't that man's Padawan and he certainly wouldn't act like it. 

"Reject Master Jinn's claim, why do you?"

Because, his shit antecedents aside, that man was less Sensitive than a rock as far as the Unifying goes, let alone the Undying.

"Because, Master Yoda, though Master Jinn's proposition of taking me on as a Padawan was very kind, it was also made in a dangerous situation where I might have died at any minute thanks to the multiple bombs present all over the place, with the Force resistant one in the slave collar around my neck having only been recently removed after weeks of efforts on my part. Considering the situation was caused by Xanatos Du Crion, the very reason he both vowed to never take a Padawan ever again and repudiated Knight Feemor, I would feel extremely uncomfortable taking his generosity farther than the comforting gesture born of guilt it was meant to be at the time. While it was quite honorable of him to not go back on his declaration after I survived, I do not believe we would work well together outside of life and death situations as our interactions beforehand were all quite stilted at best. With this Council permission, I would like to go back to the preparations I was making to be accepted into the ExplorCorps before being unexpectedly sent off to Bandomeer. "

Later, well after Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon left the room, Yoda spoke:

"Good for Qui-Gon it would be, to teach someone he would have to convince and explain things to before being believed. Quiet and welcoming Feemor was. Arrogant and enabled Xanatos was. Steady Obi-Wan is, pushed around, he won't be. Work for his esteem, Qui-Gon will have to. Very good for him it will be. Believe too much his own reputation, the Maverick does."

"Give them both a break before shoving them together." Tyvokka rolled his eyes. "The poor boy needs to heal from his time as a slave and Qui-Gon just saw the beloved Padawan he thought dead try to explode a whole mine." He pointed a finger at the little green troll. "They should see a mind healer for this, if only to evaluate their mental state. If you won't put your foot down for Qui-Gon, at least contact Dooku to make him aware of the situation. It is his Lineage as well after all. Kenobi sounded reasonable, I am sure he would agree to delay his plans for the ExplorCorps once it is framed as making sure that he will be alright before letting him uproot himself. It isn't like this Temple lacks classes and formations he could go to in the meantime!"


	7. The Council of Reassignment

Tyvokka knew that Yoda wasn't in the right. He was also well aware that no mind healer worth their salt would clear Qui-Gon Jinn for either active duty or a new Padawan after this. Whoever took up Obi-Wan's case certainly would recommend keeping them separated.

With Yoda and Dooku influence working together in their poaching efforts, and Tyvokka would make sure that the latter was made aware of the situation, Qui-Gon might be convinced to finally go see the mind healer of his own free will. If he wasn't, then it could be used as grounds to refuse him Obi-Wan's guardianship anyway.

And Dooku had to be involved. Obi-Wan had looked toward Jocasta Nu when speaking of preparations to be accepted into the ExplorCorps and she would never hold up an Initiate's documentation on the Grandmaster sole behalf.

Which led to the reason Tyvokka was currently in front of the Council of Reassignment with a recording of the last High Council's session. Going by the expressions on the faces around him, they weren't terribly impressed with Yoda's meddling.

"Are you positive that Madame Nu, Chief Librarian and currently member of the High Council, neglected to make us aware of a possible applicant for the ExplorCorps?"

"I asked Initiate Kenobi what preparations he had done to be accepted, to see if I could help him. He was most thorough in his note keeping. He kept lists of which references and beings were the most helpful to him on various issues, as well as done copies of quizzes and placement tests he did to further determine which path of the Service Corps would suit him best. His notes, lists and results are in the second, third and fourth folders on the datastick I gave you. Since he loves conversing with others, but has very few people he actually count as friends, I advised him to consider taking part in a few clubs on subjects useful on a day to day basis, but often forgotten in favor of flashier pursuits."

There was a moment of silence while the five Jedi Masters tasked with leading the Jedi Service Corps and the Councils that governed each branch took a look at the information gathered.

"Is everything the way it was originally organized as?"

"I only copied and pasted his own folders onto this datastick."

"Then we might already have the reason for Jocasta's interference. While he does have what it takes for the path to knighthood, his qualifications for the EduCorps are nothing to scoff at and the number of languages he knows, both spoken and written, is nearly ridiculous for his age. I will have to look at who was due to return to Coruscant before Obi-Wan's birthday, but I believe the poor dear was victim of not one, but two poaching attempts at the same time, each from a different Lineage."

"Could the Bandomeer mission have been a last ditch effort to steal him before whoever she had in mind landed on the planet?"

A ping echoed in the room.

"It seems that Dooku decided to come back earlier than planned and will be here in three days."

"Good. Other revelations pending, it means we should be able to deal with everyone knowingly involved in this mess in one go. A promising Initiate just passed the last few months being rejected over and over again, until he believed no one he might approach would want him as their Padawan. While the situation seems to have become the ExplorCorps gain, that such a glaring negligence of a child's mental and emotional well being was even allowed, let alone orchestrated, by people who should damn well know better is scandalous!"


	8. Wrath

Dooku hadn't been so much entertained in his Master presence in years. At his side, his current Padawan Komari Vosa visibly pained at keeping her lips from smiling, but since it was such a rare event that they were witnessing, he decided to ignore the breach in decorum and sent back his own amusement through their Bond.

They were only on Coruscant because both Yoda and Tyvokka had contacted him. The first to ask him for his help in the very scheme that brought the Council of Reassignment wrath on the High Council. The second to inform him of both Xanatos' true fate and Qui-Gon's continued refusal to see a mind healer. 

It was absolutely no trouble to show both messages and drop his shields long enough for his sincerity to shine through the Force when he swore that he had no knowledge of the situation before receiving them. Komari did the same right after with no prompting needed.

Learning of Jocasta's own attempt at poaching had been quite surprising, but then again, she always had her own ideas about who deserved to learn what and didn't take well to being contradicted in her beliefs. 

Since her duties as Chief Librarian made her the leader of the EduCorps, she had taken upon herself to drive Initiate Kenobi toward her domain under the certitude that, once trained as a Jedi Consular, he would make a great Lore Keeper. It wasn't like it would bar him from the ExplorCorps, plenty of her researchers accompanied them in their travels from time to time! 

Where was the harm in not warning a boy whose hopes had already been crushed so often, that she had asked a few of her people to come over and see if he would fit well in their teams? Where was the harm in allowing him the chance of being chosen instead of assigned?

"The harm," growled Tyvokka, "is that you could simply have presented the new arrivals as members of joint missions between both Corps who came to give first hand accounts of what it was like to be part of the Order while not having access to planet bound Temples and Academies! The harm is that a child just passed months being rejected each time he asked a possible Master for the honor of becoming their Padawan! There is no doubt in my mind that it would have made his year to be told by Madame Nu of the Old Guard, Chief Librarian, leader of the EduCorps, currently member of the High Council and often member of the Council of First Knowledge on a rotating basis, that even without a braid in his hair it would still be a pleasure to work with him!"

A member of the Council of Reassignment he regrettably couldn't recall the name of then turned their wrath on the Grandmaster.

"You always take on as many younglings and Initiates classes as your responsibilities allow! You should know better than this! We all thought you knew this better than anyone else! That you, you out of all the people in this Temple, could be so callous toward these pupils as to attempt to use one of them as a tool to fix Qui-Gon Jinn disgust me! Children should never have to be the caregivers for the adults in charge of them! Your precious Maverick saw his own Padawan Fall, he doesn't need another one, he needs a mind healer! The only reason he even offered himself as a Master for Obi-Wan Kenobi is that the kid almost died a slave because Xanatos thought he was his brother padawan! As much as I disapprove of his repudiation of Feemor, considering his constant refusal of having his mental health evaluated, vowing to never raise anyone else till knighthood was among his wisest ideas in several years!"


	9. Memories

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My thanks to Ewina for the journal idea!

The other slaves liked to share stories. He had done his best to memorize as many of them as he could because the dangerous working conditions under Offworld Mining Corporation often meant that the people who told them might no longer be there to do so again the next day. 

One day, he asked a person who had been close to one of the deceased if they would listen to what he remembered, to make sure he had gotten the fairy tales they were so fond of correctly. He must have done a pretty good job of it, since soon after even those who didn't speak often started to seek him out, not just for their own stories, but also the ones of their friends who were marching far away.

He had nothing but his own mind and the help of the Force to safeguard what he heard. So that is what he used. 

All younglings were taught focusing techniques, some Force assisted, some not, as well as mnemonics to improve recall from the crèche and onward. Tarre liked to make him learn history through epic poems and ritual battle chants whenever he could. 

His Ghost Master argued that if he knew an event well enough to write honest to goodness music on it, then there was no need to worry about any test on the subject. That had actually led to a rather amusing situation the one time a remplacant for a class had made the error of requesting a specific number of lines instead of words like the usual teacher. Bant had made him a glorious framed flimsy copy of it for his birthday that year.

He hadn't known at first if it was the Unifying, the Undying, or a mix of both, but while he was wondering what some of the fragmented stories he had collected might have been like when complete, he had started to perceive, hum, let's say apparitions? They weren't the same as Tarre, not as strong, it was akin to comparing the Presence of a Jedi to the one of a typical civilian. Was it what the ghost of someone who wasn't Force Sensitive in life felt like?

He might have helped them to travel to the next great adventure? Most let themselves go on once he became able to recite their stories to their satisfaction and the rest left when slavery was rooted out from the mine.

His dreams had become weird after coming back to the Temple, but they didn't feel like Visions. They were like almost familiar memories? He probably should meditate more to clear his mind. He had been so surrounded by suffering his whole time on Bandomeer that he had taken to filter nearly everything through the Undying not three days in.

His brain was a mess. He was sure of it. The mind healer had given him a rudimentary but sturdy datapad whose sole function was to be used as a journal in whichever format he prefered, be it written, audio, video or holo. They had even offered him a selection of sleeves to protect it to choose from. It was all his, you just never reused something so personal in a place full of empaths and people with psychometry.

One didn't simply let what you wanted to keep private lying around without protection with Quinlan Vos as a friend. So after prying open the casing to verify that everything was legit, the very first thing he did with it was to encrypt the memory core to hell and back. The second was modifying the holo function to serve as the security question for the journal's folder and then encrypt it as well. The third was setting up multiple passwords to access the datapad. One when just wanting to rapidly take notes and recordings, which could be given to friends if needed and automatically stopped the holo from being used as anything more than its original functions and the other with full capabilities. Fourth and last was saturating everything with his Signature until no Force Sensitives could pretend they didn't know it was his.

Now, time to hunt down some discarded tech and materials to build his own stuff from.


	10. Vambraces

Obi-Wan stared indecisively at the various designs on his datapad. 

Though arm coverings of all types were quite popular in the Order, most didn't have much in the way of tech beyond wrist comms and even less offered true protection against anything more serious than light bruises, scratches and sunburns.

While no one had bothered to remove his boots on Bandomeer, letting him keep his beskar teeth, he couldn't use them without bringing questions he didn't want to answer. The metal was just too distinctive. In fact, frustratingly enough, most Jedi outerwear since the Ruusan Reformation tended to have very little metal that wasn't either birth culture related or a belt buckle.

So, even now that he had passed his verd'goten, if he wanted something with sturdier materials than the different varieties of syntleather available at the Temple, the armor function would have to be a secondary benefit, not the main goal. 

What might he want or need to integrate in his vambraces that would both be easy to explain away and necessitate a highly resistant casing to work well in the situations it was likely to be put through? What would be better off in belt pouches or inner pockets in his clothes instead?

Could he set up one vambrace for recording and scanning and the other for research and holonet access? 

He hadn't reached his full size yet and the travel bag he had used to go to Bandomeer had been the same tiny one as for the Illum trip. Should he get himself one of those backpacks with a lot of sections both inside and outside to replace it? How durable were they? Which were the best options for the life he wanted to lead? Would the Quartermaster have them? Would he let him take one?

If he got her the right markers and a fine enough piece of cloth, would Bant agree to make a new copy of the framed song she had once gifted him? He had brought it with him when he left for the AgriCorps, but it was lost with the rest of the travel bag. He liked the thought of having it on something less fragile, something that he could fold and keep safe near his heart, where no one could steal it.

How many pockets, hidden or not, could you fit in Jedi layers? Maybe he should join the sewing group that was among the clubs Tyvokka had recommended to him. That way he could learn to customize his clothes to be exactly what he needed and be able to mend any damage to them.

In fact, a great deal of the activities that had been pointed out to him were either about how to do things when not having access to the Quartermaster vast stores or modifying already existing objects to better respond to the current needs.

The mind healer had prescribed him to take a few art classes as well since he had already finished nearly everything available that was devised specifically for his age group. He had immediately signed up for everything culinary related he could get his hands on. 

The cafeterias did admirable work at satisfying the nutritional needs of every sentient species living in the Temple, but with so many wildly different dietary requirements to contend with, flavors just weren't the main priority. 

His Ghost Master was a Mandalorian Jedi. For as long as he knew him, Tarre positively waxed poetic about spicy food and Obi-Wan wanted to know what the big deal was.


	11. Food

Tarre was very pleased with his student. Not only had Obi-Wan chosen to learn how to cook, but the classes he had taken covered a great variety of ingredients, worlds, situations and methods. This meant that he should soon be able to recognize and prepare food suitable for himself nearly everywhere he might end up to. 

Even more satisfying, he had developed a taste for Outer Rim seasoning, which as a general rule, tended to be spicier than anything found in the Core and Middle Rim. It would take him a while yet to develop the tolerance needed for a proper Mandalorian meal, but it was still an excellent start nonetheless.

Some methods and recipes were adapted for what little space and kitchenware was usually available in a one person ship. Others were tailored to the demands common in soup kitchens the galaxy over. A few showed how fast food chains worked. There even was a class which was basically how to deal when something is either broken or missing 101. 

And the lessons weren't limited to the inside of the kitchen. The teachers showed them how to shop, budget, compare prices, understand nutritional value, haggle, buy and watch out for problematic products.

Honestly, Tarre might have a lot of things he didn't agree with the Coruscanti Jedi of this time period about, their relationship with the Republic Senate and their blatant favoritism toward the path of knighthood chiefs among them, but when it came to encourage a well rounded high quality education of their members, they were rather hard to beat.

He had good reasons for not pushing Obi-Wan harder toward leaving for a Mandalorian life. He wanted to spend more time with him yes, but they also both genuinely came to love the Order in their own way. There were things that only other Force Sensitives could truly understand and being in a place so full of them was soothing in ways that had become increasingly rare after the Ruusan Reformation and even more after the Dral'Han.

While the gift did tend to run in families, like calling to like and souls recognizing souls, it still didn't explain on its own how much the number of members in the Order had shrunk. Everyone could become Sensitive with enough reincarnations passed developing the skill, you literally couldn't lose it once you had it. 

Rituals were first created near the beginning of the universe by young souls wanting to pool the power of a whole community toward a single goal, what Vokara Che was able to do in a few seconds or minutes these days used to take hours for whole groups to achieve. Those naturally tended to become rather close knit and were the main reason so many cultures developed Lineages, Houses, Clans, Brotherhoods, Sisterhoods, Priesthoods, Orders, Churches and basically anything that could replicate those early communities. 

So where did all those souls go? Beside a few people who had a nearly extinct Clan to keep going, every Mandalorian Lore Keeper that wasn't of Taung origin had chosen to let go of their beskar bones. Mandalore mines were mostly haunted by souls who hadn't accumulated enough rituals and understanding of the universe to have a strong Presence. While imprecise, midichlorians were actually a good biological indicator of how long someone had been around. 

What could possibly have been preparing these last centuries that would push the Cosmic to nudge so many souls to be reborn farther and farther away from the heart of the Republic? There used to be 3 millions Jedi before the Army of the Light was disbanded, now Coruscant was becoming dangerously close to a mere ten thousands. 


	12. Senate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My thanks to Ewina for the encouragement on this chapter!

Someone had thoroughly warded the Senate against ghosts. Obi-Wan highly doubted even those tied to an object that might be brought there would be able to do much, if anything, it would probably be severely unpleasant for them. The whole place was like an unnatural void as far as the Undying goes. 

You could literally kill someone there and the soul wouldn't linger. It was the creepiest place he had ever been to. Tarre was barely a murmur at the back of his head and the Initiates around him who were also participating in the visit were all acting as if nothing was wrong. 

The Unifying was there, everything had a past and future after all, but it felt like dirty engine oil mixed with blood, dried, coagulated and fresh from all species. As if generations after generations of people had used it to calculate the best ways to profit from and engineer others suffering. The overpowering stench thankfully wasn't everywhere, the Republic wouldn't, couldn't still be standing if it was, but he still had to shield with all his might to not not throw up near the Intergalactic Banking Clan.

He didn't even recall leaving the Palace of Golden Rot. He slowly came back to himself shaking and crying in Tyvokka's arms while the Jedi Master softly asked questions to the Senior Padawan in charge of the trip. It took him even longer to realise he was whispering panicked predictions into the wookie fur. Something about droids, not enough bacta, ship pyre and please, please, please be careful I don't want you to die, I don't want you to die, I don't want you to die! He kept touching the three same spots on Tyvokka's chest over and over again.

Nearby, a pale and wide eyed Bruck Chun was confessing to Plo Koon a series of robberies inside the Temple done on Xanatos' behalf. He had gone to bully his rival on the way back after noticing him acting strangely, and ended up absolutely terrified by experimenting first hand what it was like to become the sole focus of someone having Visions of the future. Learning you were going to willingly break your neck on the floor by letting go instead of taking an offered hand would traumatize any child.

A confused Tahl had been told in a corridor that if she was going to take on Bant for her courage and good heart and then leave her behind for every remotely difficult mission instead of asking for the appropriate backup, then she might as well save her some heartbreak and hand her over right away to Kit Fisto before that sensory deprivation containment device added to Qui-Gon's grief.

Sifo-Dyas took one look at the mess and then immediately made a request to the Senate for the footage of the Initiates' visit, telling them that one of the children had developed a delayed reaction to something and they hoped to identify what it was by looking for possible early symptoms.


	13. Footage

"Go back to the very beginning, before he even entered the Senate" said Sifo-Dyas. His eyes were fixed on the red haired Initiate on the screen. "There" he pointed and when the other Councillors still didn't see it, he copied the few seconds of relevant footage, wrote down a short but appropriate description and made it play in a loop. Then he waited. The disquiet already present in the room slowly grew.

In from of them, Obi-Wan Kenobi jerked to a halt, stared in slight panic at the imposing floor, walls and ceiling around him, walked a few steps backward as if by reflex, relaxed and then tensed all over again as another child made him cross the hudge doors which protected the politicians from the outside world when closed.

"Knew the Senate to be warded against some ways of perceiving the Force I did not" softly declared Yoda, his ears low. "Closer to him than most you have become Tyvokka. More light can you shed?"

"He loves stories. He can tell when one has been deliberately edited or simply twisted through traductions." The wookie gave a warning look to Jocasta, who suddenly looked even more interested than before. "It is part of why he already knows so many languages, he wants to be as close to the originals as possible. His favorites are those he was told in person since the teller's Presence, voice and body language add even more depth to the experience. He is good at reading between the lines of a narrative and piecing events back together from wildly divergent accounts of the facts. It is how he became friend with Padawan Vos in the first place. He severely dislikes politicians in general because of how many of them are full of hot air and tend to speak a lot without saying anything of substance."

"A Truth Teller he is? Explain a lot, this does. Painful, election time must be for him. See the rest of the footage shall we? Not mere Darkness this is. Many layers warding can have. Curious I am, to know if we might learn where are the liars which veil our Sight the most. "

They made it perhaps half way through the tour before a ping sounded and Adi Gallia started to furiously search through files on her datapad. She answered the unspoken questions without looking up. 

"He stayed mostly in the middle of the group during the visit, but put himself between Initiate Eerin and the committee which oversees requests of Jedi help made through the Senate. Master Tahl just reported a prediction where she was told to bring more backup on missions where she wouldn't bring a Padawan if she didn't want to die from a sensory deprivation containment device. I am tracing the path they took inside the Temple after coming back to see if he talked and reacted to more people before reaching Tyvokka. If nothing else it should at least give us more recordings to work from."

They found no more predictions, but observing Obi-Wan move on autopilot after passing near the Intergalactic Banking Clan brought home both how good he had become at shielding and how much the Senate must have been muffling the Initiates and Senior Padawan Senses for them to not notice it.

Privately, Sifo-Dyas resolved to keep a closer eye on the situation. Being a Seer was never easy and for all that the Council preached to be listening to the Force, Visions of the future, which as Yoda loved to say so often, was always in motion, were often discarded. Children needed to have people willing to listen to them and their worries.


	14. Courage and good heart

Siri Tachi and Bant Eerin were determinedly making their way toward the High Council Chamber with service carts holding multiple trays full of food. Their elders had been at it for a while, and the Senior Padawan manning the door had confirmed that they hadn't eaten yet. 

Obi-Wan was with Quinlan, who had insisted on taking care of him himself given his personal experience with similarly overwhelming situations and the greater privacy the TholmeVos set of rooms would give them.

Reeft and Garen Muln were searching through the Temple Library to find documentation on Visions and how to recognize and help the Seers who had them. They had thought those were mostly gone when their friend had stopped waking up at night so often at eight years old, but what if they had just missed them? 

That it had been Bruck Chun, out of all people present during the Senate trip, who had first realised something strange was going on with their fellow Initiate had deeply troubled both of the clans who had been present.

One of them might have been hiding or repressing Visions for years, another had confessed to stealing from their own home on a Fallen Jedi Padawan behalf and both cases were now examined by Councillors working on an empty stomach. They couldn't do much about the first two, but the third? The third they could easily fix.

The High Council Chamber doors opened and both Initiates pushed their offerings through. Only to stop and stare nearly immediately once they realized Kit Fisto was also there.

"This is a lovely spread of food." The nautolan smiled reassuringly at them. "It was very kind of you to bring such a thoughtful selection to choose from for everyone. How is your clan?"

"Mine is mostly fine," said Siri. "Tooka Clan not so much. This is Bant." She sharply moved her head in the other's direction. "Obi-Wan is with Padawan Vos. Bruck is still with Knight Koon. Reeft and Garen are in the Library. Everyone else has either already been chosen as a Padawan or willingly left for the Corps well in advance before the choice was made for them." Her hands were holding her serving cart so tightly that her knuckles were turning white. "Seeing one of their own being refused over and over again for months on end discouraged many across all the clans from even trying for the path of Knight. That's why we were few enough in numbers that our respective crèchemasters decided that we could visit the Senate together."

Yoda's ears were the lowest they had ever seen them when he turned his attention toward Bant. "More to add, do you have young one?"

Bant looked into the sad eyes of the Grandmaster of the Order and decided to take a page out of her best friend book. She shielded until she was sure her hands wouldn't shake, then started to quietly serve the meals they had brought for the Councillors. Having something else to focus on did help her to feel better.

"Young one?" He sounded worried.

Only him and the person in the center of the room didn't have trays now and they had planned everything according to the number of occupied seats. 

She took a deep breath and removed the cup holding the huge egg that had been selected as Yoda's dessert from the last tray. It was suitable for amphibious species, so it would have to do for the person who might become her Master one day according to Obi-Wan's prediction to Master Tahl. She gave it to Kit Fisto with a shy smile.

Then she finally faced the one who had asked her a question and gave him her answer. "He has always been a strong Sender. It made us question a lot of things to realize that when he needed it the most, no one listened to him."

  
  
  



	15. If only

Obi-Wan had fallen asleep in Quinlan's arms. His ginger hair, darkened by the water he had used to try to wash away the memories of the recent events and brought in sharp contrast by the kiffar's spare clothes, seemed redder than usual. 

Usually, their roles were reversed. The Padawan would dive in too deep inside an object past history with his psychometry, then the Initiate would put a hand on the nearest uncovered skin part of his friend and project happy thoughts at him until he came back to himself. 

Not that it was the first time the Truth Teller had come to him in turn. They were both too curious for their own good. Obi-Wan was just better at not getting caught by their teachers. If the current rule set of the Coruscanti Jedi had been different, Quinlan would have begged Master Tholme to train the other boy at the same time as him. Having him as a brother padawan would have been fantastic!

As it was, he already shared as many Shadow lessons as he could get away with with his friend. He had even asked his Master if he knew of anyone in their subset of the Order who might be interested in a Padawan, only to be told to let it go. That if someone wanted to choose they would do it and trying to force the matter wouldn't bring any good.

It wasn't as if he could snitch on the rule breaking they had been doing to prove the redhead suitability to the grey areas of the Shadow path! Did really no one else realise how much of a menace his favorite partner in crime would be in cover work or with wide access to listening devices? Or even just getting testimonies and interrogating people?

Quinlan had wanted to scream when he learned of Obi-Wan getting sent to the AgriCorps! He had ranted about every single fact he knew that both wasn't incriminating and proved how much of a stupid error it was to everyone he knew would listen to him! 

His friend had a temper? Big effing deal! As if it wasn't bloody obvious to their whole age group that Bruck Chun was the main source of it! That the number of bullying victims had dropped once that little shit had spotted someone who would fight back! That anger only slipped through his shielding when he knew an adult was nearby enough to intervene and cut it short when it got bad! 

Temper, temper, temper! How about hard work and kindness!? Mouse Clan was full of younger kids who had 'mysteriously' decided to identify themselves with ginger colored ribbons after their favorite older person outside of Grandmaster Yoda and their own crèchemaster was taken away! Apparently, someone had learned Basic Sign Language to be able to engage in direct conversations with species and people who couldn't use vocal cords to make themselves understood! 

Not to mention everyone who had looked up to him for his dueling skills! If there was one thing that people thought about when it came to Knights, it was how well they wielded their lightsabers! 


	16. Ripples

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My thanks to Fai_Gensou, Ewina, geeketeer and Ergo from the Cursed Content server! They really helped me a lot for this chapter!

"Would you do me the honor of becoming my Padawan?"

The Force felt right about this, but why? Why them and not Obi-Wan? They had seen the List of Refusals compiled by the others, the picture of this Knight had been on it. What they were playing at? Was this a test? Why even bother? What could possibly have changed? Why now and not before? Just, why?

"Why do you want me? Why me and not someone else?"

\-------------------------------------------------------

"Want to join the ExplorCorps do you?"

An incredulous stare was followed by a deadpan answer: "This isn't about what I want. There is no way that I could find a Master if Obi-Wan who is so much better at... basically everything couldn't find one. I just prefer cutting my losses now rather than have to be thrown out. It would be better for my self esteem at least. It certainly will save me some stress and heartbreak."

The child was ten. They should feel protected and cared for. They shouldn't even be thinking about needing to spare themselves from pain beyond refusing to participate in some ill advised stunts.

\-------------------------------------------------------

They didn't understand. The Knight seemed truthful, but there must be a lie somewhere because none of the qualities the Knight said they had were lacking in Obi-Wan, who had all of those in spade.

"I am surprised you asked me. I expected to have to almost die to get this."

\-------------------------------------------------------

"I am at a loss about what to do! Creating a Bond with your new Padawan is not supposed to be like trying to find your way through a fortress! Except that the Bond is done and I still can barely feel anything with how much is locked behind shields!"

"You can feel something? I only get an alive statut and a direction to go toward if needed!"

"You got a Bond!?" 

"I have had hostage negotiations between people trying to kill each other that weren't as bad as what the Initiate I want to teach put me through! I never felt so intimidated by questions in my life!"

"I am fairly sure that mine did a thorough research on my Lineage before even considering saying yes."

\-------------------------------------------------------

Siri Tachi took notes and crossed checklists on her datapad as the members of various clans came to her with their concerns.

\-------------------------------------------------------

"Cin Drallig reported something worrying. The number of younglings wanting to concentrate more on Soresu skyrocketed. When asked for a reason for their change in focus, they said they wanted to be able to better protect themselves. That what happened to Initiate Kenobi is proof that even the presence of a Master Jedi won't protect them from those who could wish them harm."

\-------------------------------------------------------

Tooka Clan, what little was left of it now that Bruck Chun resided in another part of the Temple while his fate was decided, grew more close-knit. Nightly cuddle piles became rather common.

\-------------------------------------------------------

"Master Yoda, would you happen to have an explanation as to why what seems to be a whole clan worth of your younglings suddenly requested information on whether or not the Green Jedi would take them in if they asked us to?


	17. Add insult to injury

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My thanks to Lithvirax, Mesh'la Ka'ra and Fai_Gensou on the Cursed Content server for their impressions on the reason to want a Padawan!

How much wrong intel could possibly be given for a single mission? By his original estimation, he was supposed to be back weeks ago at the latest! The Initiate he had spoken to his great-grandmaster about must have been snatched up by now!

He hadn't originally come back from the year long mission he had been on before this latest assignment with the intention of asking a child if they wished to become his very first Padawan. With how awkward, tense or professionally distant things had become between so many members of his extended Lineage, the mere idea could give him feelings of anxiety on a good day. It still did to be honest.

It had taken seeing them with their friends to make his fingers itch to put a braid in their hair. Looking at the easy camaraderie present between them had made him wishful to witness the same scene happening at meal time in his kitchen. He loved basking in the presence of other Force Sensitives at the various cafeterias, truly he did, but it just wasn't the same as the lively discussions that used to happen around his Master's table before the man grew so bitter.

Now he was finally back at the Temple and the very first thing he wanted to do was to go learn of Obi-Wan Kenobi's whereabouts. So that's exactly what he did.

Only, the children with the ginger ribbons he asked wouldn't tell him anything until he explained why he was interested to know about their fellow Initiate. Which was totally fair. So he explained that he had wanted to ask Obi-Wan if he might consider him as a Master, but had been sent on an urgent task in the Outer Rim by Grandmaster Yoda before he could finish to gather his resolve. 

"You were really that nervous?"

"I still am! I don't know when his birthday is, but even assuming that he didn't choose someone yet among the Masters who must be fighting over him because of his personality and talents, it isn't like I have much to offer to him compared to them!"

"What do you mean by that?"

"I am just a Knight and not one with much teaching experience either. My Master liked to spend as much time as possible on the field without neglecting my education, so I didn't supervise as many classes as most Senior Padawans my age. The few members of my extended Lineage I think I might be able to ask for advice have a lot of duties to take care of, and the rest are even more intimidating to consider."

"Who was your Master?"

"He repudiated me since then, but it used to be Qui-Gon Jinn."

"Are you sure he was the only one to do it? Grandmaster Yoda and Madame Nu both got yelled at a lot by Master Tyvokka and the Council of Reassignment over causing harm trying to poach the same person. Obi-Wan got sent to the AgriCorps weeks before his cut off date and ended up as a slave on Bandomeer before being saved by Master Jinn thanks to their meddling."

"They what!?"

"Well, the last one was more Grandmaster Yoda really, he must have lost patience when the exhibition match didn't make Master Jinn change his mind, but Madame Nu still neglected to inform the Council of Reassignment about Obi-Wan's preparations to get accepted into the ExplorCorps."

"..."

"I think he just gave up after being told no every month by every potential Master he had the courage to approach. Some of those refusals were quite public. The only one who actually asked him was Master Jinn and that was after Obi-Wan almost died because of Xanatos Du Crion, so he is still an Initiate until the mind healer sends the ok to ship him off to the ExplorCorps."

"Can, can you, can you tell me how he is? Is, is there anything I might do to help? I won't try to push him into anything! I just, is there anything, anything at all that I can do to make it better?"

"Turn around."

Obi-Wan Kenobi, face blank and shielding so impeccable as to make his Presence nearly unnoticeable, stood in front of him. 

"They recorded everything and sent it to me as it happened. Do you still want to make it better?"

"Yes."

"I want you, Knight Feemor, to say again everything you just confided to my friends, but with your shields down enough for everyone currently in this corridor to feel how much sincerity you truly have behind each word. Then, if I find the result satisfying, and still with your shields down, I want to hear exactly why you wanted to have me as your Padawan and not anyone else. The recording is still going on and won't stop until I say so."

Feemor dropped his shields and started talking.


	18. Moving In

Their first stop was to the Council of Reassignment. There, Obi-Wan declared his acceptance of Knight Feemor as his Master and gave a copy of the recording of the event preceding it as explanation. Their names were also put down as Jedi both willing and suited to work with the ExplorCorps if needed.

Master Tyvokka was quietly contacted and also given a copy of the recording. Considering their known mishandling and conflict of interest when it came to Initiate Kenobi, the High Council had been removed from any decisional power in this particular case. Grandmaster Yoda had also been strictly forbidden from arranging any further matches for his own Lineage since his great faith in its members could blind him to the issues that might arise from what he asked of them.

Their second, the braiding ceremony, was done with Master Tyvokka, Knight Plo Koon, Master Tholme, Padawan Vos, Initiate Bant Eerin, Initiate Reeft and Initiate Garen Muln as witnesses. There was no dreadful traditional padawan cut. 

Their third, removing Obi-Wan's things from the Tooka Clan dormitory, took next to no time at all, thanks to his new backpack, which held and kept organized everything he wasn't already carrying himself. 

His Living Master took one sad look at it and softly asked him if he wished to go visit the Quartermaster's store rooms to fill it up more before moving in.

Yes, yes he did.

So that's where their fourth stop was. Obi-Wan made a beeline for all the little kits, tools, objects and materials recommended by Tarre that he hadn't been able to get his hands on before because of his lack of status in the Order. Then he exchanged all his initiate clothes beside the few he had created or modified himself for padawan ones in his favorite shades of blue and green. That done, he rapidly examined the various messenger bags available before selecting the most practical one for daily use inside the Temple. All of his belongings could now once again be carried on his shoulders.

Through their Living Bond, which he was sure was way more open than most, he could feel Master Feemor becoming increasingly nervous as the distance with their set of shared rooms lessened.

While the entrance door was nothing special, the same couldn't be said from the interior. Beside the wooden furniture, and he knew it was actual wood because the Undying told him what the original trees looked like with a bit of concentration, nothing was quite the same style. The place was cosy and full of warmth and longing for camaraderie.

Obi-Wan brought down his shields as much as he could without being deafening.

He stared appreciatively some more at the living space, delicately put his messenger bag right next to the inviting couch and walked curiously into what would be his very own room for the next several years. It was simple and welcoming, with a wardrobe, a chest at the bottom of the bed and a nice desk to do his homework on. It was, it was perfect for him.

He dropped his backpack on the bed, turned around and hugged Feemor.

"You have a lovely home Master. Thank you for sharing it with me."


	19. Settling in

"I am telling you Quinlan, you could all come in at once and the only thing that might happen would be my Master bursting with happiness."

"Even around meal time?"

"Especially if you do it around meal time. Feemor loves company, he just doesn't feel comfortable seeking it out outside of a Lineage or professional setting. That's why he was so often gone on missions after Master Jinn repudiated him."

"He must have passed a lot of time in the cafeterias then. How is the pantry?"

"Full of glass jars filled with dry ingredients for now. He even has powdered milk and eggs. We will be fetching fresh products together as soon as I am done with my classes for today."

"What did he think about your elective subjects?"

"He asked if it would be alright with me if we shared a few of the culinary ones that concentrated on baking. He said that as long as I am happy with them he doesn't mind one bit. He did most of his own coursework at distance, so any suggestions he might make down the line will stay suggestions. I am fairly sure that he had to cram for a lot of it considering how fast many of the situations the Maverick tend to get sent to can go to hell in a handbasket."

"I don't know what Yoda's other Padawans were like, but none of those Dooku trained that I can recall seem to have a lot of friends among the Order. Rael Aveross hasn't put a foot in the Temple in years, Qui-Gon Jinn connections lie more in criminals and politicians and Komari Vosa seems to only care about her Master. With how active they all are when not grounded for their own health, I wouldn't be surprised to learn that they entirely lost sight of their crèchemates. It is possible that the education your Master got and the resulting isolation is a staple of Dooku's Lineage."

"With how much pressure must have been on him as Yoda's Padawan, maybe it originated as a way to spare his students from the staring and expectations of the other Jedi. Then his own reputation grew, as did theirs and they kept doing it both out of familiarity and for the same reason."

"It certainly would explain a lot. How is your room?"

"I haven't personalised it yet, so compared to your it is bare, but I like it. The furniture is made from this nice smooth darkly tinted wood that goes very well with my favorite colors and I have absolutely nothing to remove. So I can easily add anything I might want as soon as I realize I want it. I can actually make it mine. He even offered to just take a walk in the Quartermaster's storerooms and see what pleased me there. I think he wishes to make a day of it, not just the Quartermaster's storerooms, but taking a walk, talking and getting to know each other as much as we are comfortable while finding things to help me settle in."

"And...the Bond? How is it?"

Obi-Wan took Quinlan's hand and let him put his fingers over the wrist pulse.

"It is warm, welcoming, growing stronger every passing hour and he sends back surprise and happiness every time my mind seeks out his."


	20. Museum

Tarre was finally going to see what this Feemor looked like in person. Obi-Wan was bringing his Living Master over to visit the Temple museum and it was a given that they would pass in front of the transparisteel case housing the darksaber.

The way the Knight would react to the mandalorian section would determine how many of his Padawan interests he would be allowed to see and participate in.

Open acceptance of the electives chosen by one student was all well and good, but while there were quite a few overlaps in what both mando'ade and Jedi taught their youngs, a typical Temple education just couldn't cover everything Obi-Wan needed to know.

Quinlan Vos wasn't aware of it, but he had made a Beskar Ghost's day when he began to give Shadow instruction to his friends on the sly. Tarre had hoped the unholy combination of a psychometric and a Truth Teller working together would bring about one of Master Tholme colleagues, but these blasted poachers had to meddle.

Honestly, considering how much the young man had been screwed over by his own Lineage and all the steps he had already willingly taken to both help Obi-Wan and better set him at ease, many of the possible major problems seemed rather unlikely, but it was always better to verify.

Especially in light of the stunts Yoda and Jocasta Nu had pulled.

Ah, there they were! Nice Presence, not centered in the Living Force as much as he had expected, not noticeably strong in the Unifying either, but also with a good grip on the Physical. Pretty balanced and steady in general despite the recent upheaval in his life.

He could still feel something else though, but it was slight, like trying to taste a hint of spice in a meal from a Middle Rim planet when used to the heavier seasoning common in the Outer Rim. 

Oh. How lovely! He didn't recognize him, but then again, no one knew all the mando'ade who ever were and Mandalore culture wasn't the only one to believe in the Undying. 

The poor dear soul could have originated from anywhere and without a ritual there was no telling how long ago the teachings were given. Between all the natural disasters, pollution poisons, pandemics, famines, unscrupulous businesses, little wars, large scale conflicts and various republics and empires' tendency to wipe out from time to time those who didn't fit their interests, preferences and beliefs, many groups had been forcibly dispersed.

Happily, most rituals made to remember past lives focused on bringing back memories from incarnations in which similar rituals were made. It saved headaches, generally facilitated integration and caused the formation of no less than five clans that he knew personally of whose members once came from extinct Undying aware cultures. 

They even found a few particularly heretic Jedi that way. Apparently, some sects hadn't wholly believed the Order doctrine about a being's soul dissolving into the Cosmic Force upon their death and decided to experiment. You had to love people who fuck around and find out sometime.

This was going to be so interesting!


	21. Gossip

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My thanks to Fai_Gensou for this one! They had a wonderful idea for this while at work and shared it on the Cursed Content discord server!

"How!? How did he do it!? He had barely landed! I looked at his mission report! He was in the Outer Rim for months and the communications outside of the planet he was on were shots! The backlog alone means that he can't have had the time to update himself on everything that happened!"

"He hadn't even been made aware of the poaching scandal until a group of Initiates told him the whole story! We were here for it, we had more time to adapt to the current situation and yet he still managed to get himself Obi-Wan Kenobi as his Padawan on the first go! I thought that boy would walk backward into an ExplorCorps shuttle while giving middle fingers to the whole High Council before accepting a Master considering what happened!"

"Didn't he though? Yoda meddled to have a JinnKenobi team and now Feemor, the very Knight Qui-Gon repudiated over something Xanatos Du Crion did, has the Padawan that was planned for the Maverick. I looked over the lists and they are both noted as happy to help the ExplorCorps if needed. Were they pushed, I have no doubt that they would actually use that shuttle."

"It still doesn't explain how he did it! Repudiated by Qui-Gon or not, the mere association with Yoda's Lineage should have made him say no!"

\---------------------------------------------------------

"I heard he willingly took down his shields in the middle of a corridor in front of a group of Initiates to ask him! Who does that!?"

"Do you seriously think that the child who gathered his courage over and over again only to see his hope crushed just as often before being sent off to the path he was the least suited for in spite of all his hard work would have trusted anything less?"

"Master and Padawan watch each other back! If you aren't ready to let your shields down around them while inside the safety of the Jedi Temple, what are you going to do out in the field?

\---------------------------------------------------------

"Being chosen by a Master, any Master, is among the greatest honors I can think of! Why would they refuse?"

"Not everyone wants or is truly suited to be a Knight! I know I felt way better in my own skin when I was finally able to take up Quartermaster duties than during all my years learning under my Master and traveling from one planet to another without ever knowing what would fall on my head next!

\---------------------------------------------------------

"I am glad that the younglings are learning that they can say no when someone asks them to become their Padawan! One of my crèchemates was miserable with the person they were learning with! She passed her Trials, but the High Council refused to give the rank of Master to her teacher when it became obvious that the Knight had only taught her to earn the title of Master!"

\---------------------------------------------------------

"If you can't make the offer to take on a student without ulterior motives or can't make it with your shields down as you plead your case then you should probably wait or reconsider taking a Padawan!"

  
  



	22. Schedules

Feemor loved to make things with his own hands. Had he been able to when he was younger, he would have taken part in the many crafting clubs available. But since Qui-Gon Jinn wasn't willing to stay in the Temple for more than a short amount of time, he had to organize himself differently.

Being on Coruscant had rapidly become synonymous with busily giving his best shot at establishing a new human padawan record in the highest number of consecutive hours passed using Force Focusing techniques. He had to cram for all the classes he needed to go through an exam for after all.

Bith padawans, by virtue of needing only four hours of sleep a day, lucky them, were sadly the uncontested reigning champions in this matter. He would forever be thankful that his Master wasn't born one. Who knew what might have happened had the Maverick disposed of that much free time.

Now a Knight himself and with his own Padawan, he wasn't quite sure about what to do. As a teenager, he had carefully chosen to take the bare minimum of electives required of him and only selected those he knew could be done by correspondence. Obi-Wan on the other hand had taken advantage of his mind healer enforced stay in the Temple to take on as many practical classes, formations and activities as possible without risking to burn himself out.

He was tempted to follow his example just to know what it was like to be able to make full use of the facilities without having to hurry up. 

But he wanted to be free enough for his Padawan to feel at ease coming to him for anything, be it help, problems, questions, talking or just hanging out together. Which meant looking at his student's agenda and scheduling his own time accordingly.

Thanks to the Force, there was nothing nocturnal. There was also a bit of color coding going on. As far as he could tell, green was for core classes, blue for electives, orange for fun and red for everything combat and survival related.

(He wasn't wrong per se, but the meanings were actually more mandalorian in origin: dutiful green, reliable blue, lust for life orange and honor a parent red.)

Many things listed were craft related, like sewing, painting and cooking. The last interest was already seen to by the kitchen appliances and the well stocked pantry. Maybe he could move back the couch a bit to add a low table they could both work on at the same time? With pillows to kneel on? And storage drawers under the facing screen for their materials and some tools?

Obi-Wan had all but ponced on the various travel kits that were now in his well organized backpack. He had done the same himself early into his apprenticeship after learning how bad missions could truly be, but still greatly appreciated the possibilities offered by not being limited to what could fit into a bag. Was his Padawan only concerned with being as prepared as he could be for anything that might happen or did he actually love crafting?

His own sewing kit had been a nearly constant companion through his adventures with the Maverick. During hyperspace jumps he would mend the clothes damaged by whichever displeased politician, armed group, crime syndicate, misunderstood creature or 'harmless' plant that had crossed their path. 

He had once made a rather fetching cloak from accumulated syntleather scraps of various colors taken from damaged spacer vests. The end result had been a beautiful mosaic in wearable form and he had been extremely proud of it. So of course Qui-Gon had to bet it at a Sabacc game.

He had then looked into Serenno fashion and started to give the fruits of his work to his grandmaster. The elegant man knew it was a form of moving meditation to him and never failed to notice when what appeared in the mission reports didn't match what had been delivered to his door. Would his gifts still be welcome now?

His Master had repudiated him years ago. His great-grandmaster had recently basically done the next best thing. Did he even want to know for sure what his grandmaster thought of him now? Cin Drallig had been Yoda's Padawan as well, but had left good comments in Obi-Wan's file on his lightsaber skills. Could he ask him for advice instead? 

So many Jedi had either directly failed the boy or dismissed him, who was left that he could turn to? Obi-Wan had accepted him in spite of his Lineage, if he could even call it that anymore, not for it. He had been wanted for what he had said and what had been perceived of him when his shields were down to show his sincerity. Shouldn't he honor that?

As nerve wracking as it was to know that he had been chosen solely for himself, certainly it couldn't be that bad of a stepping stone to begin with? A Truth Teller had looked at him when he was vulnerable, failures and all, and decided that being at his side for the next several years would be a good thing. The least he could do was to have a bit of faith in that.

What had he done that day? Explained himself, asked what he could do to help make things better, be honest, and respected the wishes and opinions of the person concerned? 

Sounded like a good start.


	23. Communication

The knock sounded just as the tea became ready to serve. Komari was the one to stand up and let Tyvokka in while Dooku fetched a mug better suited to his guest hands than the fine cups he himself favored.

"What brings you to us on this fine day Councillor?"

"Have you been in contact with Feemor lately? Asked him how he was doing? Expressed a wish to meet your newest great-grandpadawan perhaps?"

Dooku carefully put back his cup in its saucer and leaned forward. "Did something happen to them? I thought they were still settling in and getting to know each other."

"They are as alright as they can be right now. Have you talked to any of them since you came back?"

"I didn't think it appropriate to approach them so soon after the recent events. I also find it highly unlikely that I might be welcomed by them, considering the actions taken by Yoda, Qui-Gon and Jocasta. The first was my Master, the second my Padawan and the third is a well known friend of mine. In Feemor's place, I wouldn't trust me to not be an envoy from any of them."

The other Master sighed and drank a bit from his mug. "Understandable, though this only further proves how many communication issues there must be in your Lineage."

He winced internally at that one. "I assured myself that all those I took on as Padawans would develop a sharp tongue and have no qualms about using it when the situation warrants it." He turned his head toward an attentive Komari. "They might express it differently, but there isn't a single one of them who doesn't have a strong personality. Barring an emergency or a dire necessity, we always strive to give our temper the time to cool down before any truly meaningful conversation. As far as I could gather, Feemor's favorite method of showing his displeasure toward someone he cares about is to lower the amount of crafting he does for them. Show him a big enough lack of appreciation for his efforts and he will concentrate his free time on someone else. I haven't had to ask the Quartermaster for clothes intended for myself in years!"

Next to him, Komari startled. "He made everything you wear!?"

Dooku laughed at the mistaken assumption. "He didn't go quite that far. He limited himself to the outer layers and handkerchiefs.

"Did he do this as a Padawan as well?" continued Tyvokka.

"It works as a moving meditation for him. Back then I could tell whenever Qui-Gon had caused unnecessary problems by whether or not what he wore was skillfully patched up. He must have done something particularly offensive during their seventh year together because I have been getting twice the amount of gifts ever since."

"Did these gifts ever tell you anything else?"

"The smaller pieces mostly, though there was never truly a code to it. Higher end fabric while near the Core, more detailed embroidery if they were housed with middle class people willing to let him use their machines. Richer materials if royalty was about. Receiving a stack of bare handkerchiefs visibly made from what Qui-Gon usually wears after a particularly bad mission."

The mug was finished in one gulp. "Suddenly, your and Jocasta friendship make even more sense. Dooku, it might have been unintentional on Yoda part, but right now your grandpadawan believe that he has been repudiated not just once, but twice. He won't send you anything as a gift until he knows for sure that he is still welcome at your table as a Lineage member. Go. Talk. To. Him."


	24. Spar

The trick to learn how to fight even faster and better than you should be was composed of three simultaneous parts. Force Focusing on what was happening, perceiving just a few seconds ahead in time with the Unifying and letting the Undying course through you the whole time.

The first made sure that you got as much as you could from everything. The second showed you what to look out for. The third progressively let skills relevant to the current situation seep through from your past lives. The more you practiced doing it, the more efficient it became.

If you were creative about it, even moves originally made for vibroblades could be adapted to the Jedi favorite weapon. Which was why he shortened his lightsaber to dagger length mid spar and promptly stabbed Komari Vosa with it. 

Not something he could reasonably expect to be able to pull twice on the same more experienced person, but he would only need the once in the field.

What the hell!?

"Master Dooku," said a confused Obi-Wan, still looking at the door by which his shaken sparring partner had left. "Is she alright? I don't understand why she reacted like that. I couldn't have beat her without what I did and I am sure it won't work again on her. Anyone her age would probably consider it cheating since the move doesn't come from any Form."

"And anyone her age would be wrong since the only rule I gave was that the lightsabers be at their lowest setting." His great-grandmaster sounded pensive. "Perhaps I should let us stay without missions for a while. The Temple would give her a greater variety of Jedi to compare her skills to. Passing more time with the other Senior Padawans might do her some good." He turned toward Feemor. "Neither myself nor my previous students had more close friends than fingers on a single hand, but I am beginning to suspect that Komari didn't even keep contact with any of her crèchemates. Would you be willing to share, let's say, midday meal once a week with us?"

"Of course grandmaster! Same day each week? I will send you our schedules so that you might choose which time fit you best!"

"Good. Until next time then."

As soon as Dooku was gone from the room, Obi-Wan turned hopeful eyes toward his smiling Living Master. "Can we spar together now?"

Feemor nodded. "Same rules for you, but I will be on the defensive to see both how much endurance you have and what your offensive looks like when you aren't against an opponent as aggressive as Padawan Vosa."

"Yes!"


End file.
